Michael Sam first openly gay player to be drafted by NFL team
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Michael Sam has become the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team after the St Louis Rams picked Sam, the 249th selection out of 256 in the seven-round draft.

Fox Sports

11 May 2014

Sport/More Sports

America couldn’t handle this.Source: Supplied

WHAT happened to humanity?

Fresh from the disturbingly homophobic campaign against Eurovision’s “bearded lady” overnight, here’s another setback for tolerance.

This time, the issue revolves around America’s NFL and the outrage is being fuelled by a former Super Bowl winner.

Here’s the lowdown.

As our reporter Sam Clench reported in February, 24-year-old Michael Sam stood to be the first openly gay NFL player to be drafted into the big league over in the States.

The NFL draft took place yesterday and at first, it appeared Michael Sam would be overlooked.

The draft has seven rounds, with the most in-demand players plucked first, and so on. Sam had excelled at college football but at 188cm and 116kg, isn’t huge by NFL standards.

Would a team value his talents despite his relatively small stature? And more to the point, would they be willing to take on the media hype associated with picking the first openly gay American football player?

The St. Louis Rams came to the party, picking Sam at number 249. Believe us, that would have been a long wait for Michael Sam. After all that tension, he was overjoyed, tearful and incredibly humbled as he received the news by phone.

He then celebrated the way any adult would celebrate. By plonking a big wet one on the lips of his partner... with a side of cake, in this case.